The Box
by bluebird24
Summary: It was kept hidden, but it was always there waiting to be awaken.


He had just lay down comfortably on his bed when his door suddenly burst open. Startled, Lucas sat up and watched Brooke storm into his room. She threw her pom-poms onto his desk in frustration. With her hands on her hips, Brooked angrily paced around his room.

"You know for a cheerleader, you don't look so cheery,"

The brunette threw him a glare. It was the same look she seemed to be giving him for weeks now. "Well if you had to put up with a certain broody cheerleader all practice long…you wouldn't be so cheery either,"

Lucas sighed and swung his legs over the side of his bed. He remained seated on his bed, away from his venting girlfriend. "Brooke, calm down…would it kill you to cut Peyton some slack? She's been through a lot, especially since summer ended,"

"Unbelievable!" Brooke yelled. "I come here to see if my boyfriend could comfort me but you just keep defending her. Lucas, if you haven't noticed, I'm your girlfriend,"

"Are we going to go through this again?" Lucas stood up and walked over to her. He placed his hands gently on her shoulders, hoping she'd calm down, "Brooke, you're making a big deal out of nothing. Peyton and I…we're just friends,"

"Oh, really?" Brooke pushed past him and made her way to his closet. A few seconds later Brooke reemerged with a box. She tossed the box on the bed. "Then what is this still doing here?"

Lucas looked away, not knowing what to say. There was a shade of guilt that fell over his face when he saw which box she had retrieved. It was Lucas's box that was filled with things that that reminded him of Peyton. It was Peyton's box that was half full of pictures, notes, CDs – things, moments that he had shared with Peyton. It was their box.

"I want you to get rid of the box," Brooked demanded.

"What?" he said in disbelief.

"If she doesn't mean anything to you…if she's just a friend then you'll get rid of all of her things,"

Lucas shook his head, "What's it going to prove, Brooke?"

"That you still don't have feelings for her. That you're not still in love with her,"

"Brooke, come on. Will you listen to yourself?"

"No, you listen. Guys don't just keep things from his exes for no good reason. They keep them to remember. So if she doesn't mean anything to you, then you'll throw this out," Brooke disgustedly pointed at the box.

"Brooke, just calm down,"

"Calm down? My boyfriend has a box of his ex-girlfriend, who was also my best friend, hidden away and won't get rid of it. You talk to her even though I specifically asked you not to. And worst of all, you kissed her and claimed that it meant nothing…but kisses, Luke, they always mean something"

"Well, when you kissed Pete, did that mean something?" he blurted out.

"How did you…who…" Brooke stuttered, "It was Peyton. She told you about it, didn't she? Unbelievable,"

"Actually, she didn't. Haley slipped it out. But that's not the point,"

"Why didn't you?" she whispered.

Lucas became confused, "Why didn't I what?"

"Why didn't you yell at me or get upset when you found out?"

"You want me to?" he almost laughed.

"YES! God, Luke. Why is it so hard for you to show me how you really feel about me. I just want you to fight for me. Get upset. Get Jealous…"

"K, now you're just being ridiculous," he laughed.

"This isn't funny, Lucas!" She was fed up. Brooke stomped towards the door. "Whatever. And until you get rid of that box, don't bother calling me,"

"Brooke," he called out.

Brooke didn't bother to look back. She slammed the door on her way out.

Lucas sighed and flopped back down on his bed. His gaze fell on the box that he thought he had buried deep in his closet long ago. No matter how hard he tried to keep it hidden it was just always there and it ached his heart every time it resurfaced. There were many times when Lucas wished he could bring himself to let go of it but there were just some things that were too precious to let go of.

* * *

"What are you doing here?" Peyton said uneasily as she sat up on her bed.

Lucas gave her a small, but warm smile.

"Just wanted to talk to you,"

"Thought you forgot about me,"

"What? You? Never," he assured her.

"Then where have you been the past couple of weeks? I thought Brooke finally convinced you to avoid me like the plague," she admitted.

"Nah, I just…actually I broke up with Brooke a few weeks ago,"

Peyton was surprised by the news. News like that was never kept secret, especially in a small town like Tree Hill.

"And I just needed to figure some things out first," Lucas finished.

A silence fell between them. Nothing but longing looks were exchanged between the two tortured souls. Neither one of them knew what to do next.

"Look, you shouldn't be here. If you want to get back with Brooke, this is the last place you should be. And we wouldn't want to get Brooke mad for no reason, now do we?" there was a hint of attitude in her voice but Peyton couldn't look at him when she said it. It was her defense mechanism kicking in. She had put her heart out for him once and it caused nothing but ache and pain. She couldn't go through it again.

"I don't care what Brooke wants. I'm here because I want to be," he said immediately, "But do you want me to go?" he asked in a pained voice.

Again, she looked away. Peyton wanted to say no, but couldn't. She couldn't admit it.

"Good, cause I don't want to go either," Lucas finally entered the room and walked over to the bed, to where she was sitting. He caught the split second smile that flashed on her face before she made it quickly disappear.

"I was hoping we could talk, tonight. About everything," he started as he placed the cardboard box that he was carrying down on the bed. His stomach twisted and tied into knots as he was just about to put his heart on the line again.

"What's that?" she asked curiously.

Lucas stopped to think for a moment. He didn't want to say the wrong thing, so he carefully chose his words. "I, um…kept some things from when we were together,"

"Ah, the famous box Brooke found,"

"Yeah…I thought I got rid of it…but it was actually just hiding. I never realized it but I never could get rid of it…and I still can't," Lucas moved the box that sat between them and pushed it aside. He slowly inched his way closer to her, keep his deep, passionate gaze fixed on her eyes.

Peyton froze but her heart began to beat rapidly. Her mind wandered and wondered what exactly was going on. Secretly she prayed that she wasn't dreaming. Somehow his hands had found hers and held them while he spoke softly.

"Peyt, this box represents more than just memories of what we had…it's my everything. And in some ways it's my heart; and it belongs to you. It always has. I've just been hiding but I can't anymore,"

Peyton closed her eyes and let out a slow, deep breath. She had to be dreaming, "Lucas…what are you trying to say?"

"I'm sorry for ignoring it…for ignoring you," he brought his hand up to her face and began to lightly trace her jaw line with his finger, "I'm sorry for taking so long to realize it but I know now and I want to be with you Peyton,"

Lucas saw her eyes widen in surprise before her beautiful smile emerged from within. He had missed that smile. Neither of them had seen it in a long time. Peyton reached up and gently began to stroke his cheek while looking at him. He was really there and she wasn't dreaming. Their lips met, adding fuel to the desire ignited within them. They felt whole again.

When they finally pulled apart, Lucas rested his forehead on hers and stared into her eyes, "I love you," he said softly but it seemed to scream at her.

He finally returned the three simple words she had been longing to hear from his lips. Three little words that meant so much. Lucas had really loved Peyton all along. His love for her was just like the box that was kept hidden for so long. It was just waiting to for something to make it resurface. And when it finally did, it awakened two hearts long afraid to feel.

* * *

**A/N:** Just a one shot fic...the idea came when I was writing chapter 10 in 'A Senior Year to Remember'. Hope you liked. it. 


End file.
